Sam Bahour, currently an independent business consultant in Ramallah, was a member of the core team that founded the Palestine Telecommunications Company (PalTel), and has also founded three business- AIM, an IT consulting firm, the Palestine Diaspora Investment Company, and the first major retail development, the Plaza Shopping Center. Here he sketches two primary opportunities in Palestine; firstly, the possibilities for local businesses to address evolving needs in the local market rather than enable continued dependence on imported goods, and secondly, the possibilities for Palestine's burgeoning information technology sector to address software outsourcing needs in the international market.